


Jemmy

by thefreshestandthebest



Category: The Infernal Devices Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Family, Fluff, Gen, Love, Nicknames
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-08
Updated: 2018-11-08
Packaged: 2019-08-20 20:36:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16562711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefreshestandthebest/pseuds/thefreshestandthebest
Summary: Headcanon for how Charlotte came to call Jem by a new nickname.





	Jemmy

**Author's Note:**

> Ficlet inspired by "You look much better, Jemmy," from Clockwork Princess.
> 
> Charlotte calling Jem "Jemmy" is a mood I want to have for the rest of my life.

It was an accident, the way the name slipped from her lips.

Charlotte was usually very careful and very articulate in speech, never saying a word out of place or out of turn. But just now, one could say she slipped up.

“Thank you, Jemmy.”

The new boy was exceedingly kind; he was attentive and diligent at lessons, and whenever Charlotte was busy he always offered to help. Usually handling sensitive Clave business, she always had to decline, but did so with a smile at the boy they all endearingly nicknamed ‘Jem.’ But how Charlotte had come up with ‘Jemmy’ was a mystery she attributed to having been distracted by a missive from the Consul.

“‘Jemmy’?” The boy’s face was curious, but his smile didn’t falter.

She blinked, for once at a loss for words. She hadn’t thought about it; it just sort of came out. But it felt perfectly natural. Wasn’t that how love worked? You did things and said things to one another, casually--affectionately--as easy as breathing?

“Yes,” Charlotte remarked. “Do you mind if I called you that?”

“Er, no, but maybe not all the time?”

She laughed. “Yes, of course, now _that_ would be unacceptable.”

He beamed at her, and she was reminded of how very innocent he was supposed to be.

So every once in a while Charlotte called him Jemmy, mostly when it was just the two of them, like their little inside joke. Then, when he got old enough to send on missions, she clucked over his wounds, or at his bedside after a particularly violent spell, the nickname not far from her lips.

In truth, he would always be Jemmy to her, a younger brother or son that she loved and protected fiercely. She was glad that he had Will to be his _parabatai_ , and marveled at how Jem alone could bring out the real Will from behind the wall he had erected about himself. They took care of each other in ways she couldn’t, these two inseparable boys that she loved dearly.

Jem had taken ill following the Benedict Lightwood debacle, but she was so relieved when he finally had the strength to leave his room and come to breakfast that she didn’t care--she called him Jemmy before the entire breakfast group.

“You look much better, Jemmy.”

“I am, quite. The Silent Brothers were of great assistance.”

You had to let the ones you loved know that you loved them. It didn’t matter what anyone else thought, Charlotte mused. But then she thought of Will, whose love for his _parabatai_ ’s fiancée was so clearly written across his face whenever she was mentioned or came into the room, and again Charlotte's heart broke for one of her boys. Yes, you had to tell your loved ones you loved them, she thought sadly, but only if it would do more good than ill.


End file.
